Written by

Bruce Horovitz
| USA Today

For many Americans, January means two things: shoveling snow and shoveling through all the fast-food deals.

No month spells cheap eats like January, when customer-hungry fast-food chains often see their steepest monthly sales declines and will do just about anything to lure budget-conscious consumers back. Many folks are still smarting from spending - and eating - too much back in December. So fast-food chains from Burger King to Pizza Hut to Subway are working overtime to coax them in the door.

"The challenge is to convince the consumer that the deal is so good that it simply cannot be ...